The live chat exploded with excitement.
"Say it! Tell everyone what you did wrong!" Jonah flicked on an electric baton, the sharp crackle of electricity filling the room. My body instinctively curled in on itself before the shock even hit.
Then, agony. The pain shot through me like fire racing along my nerves, ripping a strangled gasp from my throat. My body convulsed, muscles seizing up as I choked out the words they wanted to hear.
"I… I shouldn’t have killed our parents… I shouldn’t have hurt my sister." Sweat dripped from my forehead, stinging the open wounds on my face before mixing with the dried blood on the floor beneath me.
"Again!" Another shock. More pain. More forced words.
"I shouldn’t have… I shouldn’t have seduced other men… I shouldn’t have killed our parents… I shouldn’t have hurt my sister." My voice shook, but I said it. Every word. Just like they wanted.
"Louder!" Judah, my fourth brother, didn’t wait for me to obey. He kicked me hard, knocking me off balance. I hit the floor face-first, my forehead slamming against the cold concrete. A fresh trickle of blood ran down my cheek.
"I was wrong!" My voice cracked. "I shouldn’t have seduced other men! I shouldn’t have killed our parents! I shouldn’t have hurt my sister!"
They shoved the camera closer, making sure everyone watching could hear me. A long time ago, I would’ve fought. I would’ve screamed, begged someone to believe me. But that girl was gone.
They had shattered her. Destroyed her in ways that could never be undone. The first day in the mental hospital, they tried to break me.
When I refused to say the things they wanted, they locked me in a pitch-black room crawling with snakes. I barely survived. Fevered, terrified, half out of my mind, I managed to escape to the infirmary.
And that was when I made the mistake of hoping. While the doctor stepped away, I grabbed the phone with shaking hands. I called my brothers. Not one of them picked up.
Desperate, I tried Carter. This time, someone answered. But the second I heard his voice, my heart sank. "Stop pretending. Just behave and fix yourself."
Cold. Flat. Like I was nothing more than an annoyance.
I tried to plead with him, to tell him the truth, but before I could say another word, I heard Winona crying softly in the background.
She put on an act, pretending to beg for my sake. She didn’t blame me, she said. It was fine if she could never have children. At worst, she just wouldn’t get married and would spend the rest of her life alone.
And Carter comforted her, soft and gentle, like she was something delicate. "I’ll take care of you forever," he promised.
I actually believed him. Then their wedding announcement came and I realized, his idea of taking care of her meant marrying her.
The memory made my mind wander, just for a second.
With a crack sound, the whip struck again, cutting through what little feeling I had left. My body barely flinched. My lips moved on their own, repeating the confession drilled into me.
"I was wrong... I shouldn’t have seduced other men... I shouldn’t have killed my parents... I shouldn’t have harmed my sister."
Carter stood nearby, watching, his face completely blank. No pity. No hesitation. Just cold indifference.
Then, suddenly, he spoke. "Kaitlyn, who’s the man that made you do all this?"
A shiver ran down my spine. I slowly lifted my head, my eyes hollow and unfocused. "I... I don’t know..."
"You don’t know?" His sneer sent a chill through me. He pulled out a small bottle, twisted off the cap and poured its contents over my wounds.
The second it hit my skin, the burn was unbearable. Salt water. Chili extract. It seeped into every cut, setting my nerves on fire. My vision blurred, my breath caught in my throat and I gasped in agony.
"Are you really going to play dumb?" Carter’s voice was cool, almost bored. "Whose bastard is it? How could you not know?"
I had nothing left in me but pain. I choked out a sob, my voice barely a whisper. "I swear, I don’t know... please... just let me go."
Yohan laughed under his breath. "Let you go?" he taunted. "You think you deserve that?"
Julian stepped forward, his expression dark. He didn’t say a word, just yanked the pillow from my arms and tossed it aside like it was trash.
